Adolf Hitler’s Service Record to go Online

Adolf Hitler’s war record is to be published at the ancestry.co.uk archive. The website is to publish thousands of WWI documents detailing the full military careers of troops that were based in the south east of Germany. They include details of the then 25-year-old volunteer Lance Corporal Adolf Hitler, who was described as a Catholic and an artist. The records also show that he was a bike messenger for his regiment, whose role was to carry messages back and forth from the command staff to the units near the battlefield.

It is not confirmed, but it may also give details of how he won his Iron Cross First Class, a source of great pride to him throughout his life.

Hitler aside, this is a great opportunity for those UK families with German ancestry to discover these particular relatives, after all, the majority of the soldiers from the German Army didn’t want to fight any more than the British Tommy, they were just following orders and doing what they thought was right.